cheeruptheskeleton
by UltimateFandomHub
Summary: Sans gets seven (actually six) days of happiness. [Originally by talkingsoup on AO3, crossposted with permission]
1. Games

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

Note: **This story is not mine**. It is **written by CourierNew over on AO3** , and I am crossposting their story here **with their permission** to be able to share their wonderful work with the community as well. A link to their account can be found on my profile. Day One is also missing.

* * *

Day 1: Games

"I think you'll really like this one," Frisk was saying.

"Journey?" said Sans, peering at the image on the screen. "I'm gonna guess some kind of journey is involved."

Frisk giggled. "Yup!"

"Straightforward. I like it."

"You play as this little creature trying to cross a treacherous landscape to reach your goal," Frisk said, smiling. Now didn't that just sound so familiar?

"I like their little scarf."

"The scarves are important! The further you go, the longer your scarf gets, and the more you can do with it."

Sans started up the game. Frisk had been recommending games to him for weeks now, and Sans was in a mood to humor them. This "Journey" seemed uncomplicated enough.

"Guessing I use the scarf to fight people?"

"Nope. You don't fight anyone." Frisk said, leaning against him. They had a good feeling about this game and were eager to see what he thought. This was one of their favorites.

Sans watched the opening cinematic in silence. Once the game started, Sans spent a few minutes figuring out the controls.

"So I'm supposed to head toward the weird tuning fork mountain, huh?"

"Mm-hmm. That's your goal."

"Why do I want to go there?"

"The story reveals itself as you go."

"This desert's pretty," Sans said and then shot a grin at Frisk. "Pretty deserted."

Frisk snorted.

They both fell into silence. Frisk watched Sans traverse the game world, occasionally sneaking glances at the skeleton's face to see what he thought. He got a kick out of sliding down sand dunes. Once he got to the first area, Frisk could tell he was sold.

"Oh, man," he said at one point. "You didn't tell me I could fly."

"Hee hee! Isn't it great?"

"I gotta get me one of those scarves."

An hour passed. Frisk had thought that Sans would put the game down sooner than this–he had a hard time committing to games, or anything really–but Sans kept playing. More telling was that Sans was playing the game in virtual silence. He usually had plenty of commentary and jokes to offer. He was completely insufferable when they were playing Smash Brothers.

"How come the world is so…empty?" he said at one point. Frisk didn't answer. He was so into the game, they wanted him to experience it all for himself.

"Oh. That's why. Jeez. That's sad."

Frisk watched his face while he played. By the second hour, he was completely invested. There was a much wider variety of emotions playing across his features than normal. Sadness, joy, worry, confusion, triumph when he figured out a puzzle or found a hidden item. It was rather enthralling for Frisk to watch.

They couldn't help feeling a bit proud. They'd picked out the perfect game for him, it seemed.

At about four hours, Sans was reaching the end of the game, and he still hadn't put the controller down even once.

"Oh no," Sans said, breaking several long minutes of silence. He leaned forward on the couch, watching as the creature on the screen struggled to climb a frozen mountain.

"Are they slowing down? Oh no, they're slowing down. No, no, come on little guy. You're almost there. Just a little further."

Frisk scooted forward, sitting on the edge of the couch. They remembered this part of the game. This part had made them cry.

"Just keep going," they urged, remembering the parts that came after this.

"They're slowing down." Sans's voice was strained. "Am I freezing to death?"

"Stay determined."

"Ahh, come on. Come on, we're so close. We're almost there. Don't…" Sans faltered, grip tightening on the controller. "Don't give up."

On the screen, the little creature struggled a few more paces and then collapsed in the snow.

"No, come on. Get up." Sans started pushing every button.

Nothing happened. Frisk looked sidelong at Sans. They knew what came next, but Sans didn't. Slowly, he stopped pressing buttons. He set the controller on his lap. He looked…almost heartbroken.

"That's it? I don't…did I do it wrong?"

"Sans, it's okay," Frisk said quietly, hooking their arm through his. "Just wait a bit."

The usual grin was coming back to his face.

"Heh. We got so close but…"

He trailed off as something on the screen changed.

"Oh." His eyesockets widened. "Oh! Oh man."

The cinematic finished, and Sans burst out with relieved laughter.

"Hah, wow, that was–hey, look at me now."

Frisk beamed as Sans tore through the rest of the game. He was grinning for real, encouraging the creature on the screen, even whooping a little at the more triumphant parts. He fell silent again for the last minute of the game, as the creature reached its goal.

The screen went white and then the credits started to play. Sans collapsed back on the couch.

"Wow," he said, sounding almost winded. "That was…"

"A journey?" Frisk said, grinning ear to ear.

"Heh, yeah." Sans ruffled their hair. "What a good game. They really got me with that part in the snow. I thought that was the end."

"So you liked it?"

"I loved it." Sans pulled Frisk into a one-armed hug. "Really makes you feel things. Heh. And what a nice payoff. We made it in the end."

He turned a bit so he could look at Frisk, his gaze meeting Frisk's for just a moment.

"We made it."

Frisk felt like crying, but not from sadness. "Yeah."

"Thank you, Frisk."


	2. The Outdoors

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

* * *

Day 2: The Outdoors  


Sans slept through the whole car ride.

If he was honest, he hadn't _really_ wanted to go at all. Camping wasn't exactly high on his to-do list. Awful lot of work involved, plus a lot of sleeping in really uncomfortable places.

Papyrus had begged him, though, and then Frisk had begged him, and then of course Toriel had begged him, so Sans had caved. Papyrus had promised that at least Sans wouldn't have to help pitch the tent. Which was good, since Sans would just drape the thing over a tree branch and call it done.

He awoke to the car pulling to a stop and Frisk speaking up.

"Do you think we'll see bears? I hope we see a bear."

"If we do, please promise me you won't try to pet it," Toriel said, chuckling as she put the car in park. "You had best wake Sans up."

"I'm awake," Sans mumbled, sitting upright. "Cars are great for sleeping in. We there yet?"

"We're here!" Frisk said, bounding out of the car. "I'm gonna find a good place to pitch the tent!"

"Sans, I can't BELIEVE you slept through the whole ride up here!" Papyrus cried, turning around in the passenger seat to pout at Sans. "You missed a ROUSING game of I Spy! AND you missed all the views!"

Papyrus's gaze went dreamy. "It was BEAUTIFUL, Sans! The Surface is so BIG!"

"Heh, sorry bro," Sans said, winking at him. "I'll catch it all on the way out."

He looked out the window. They had parked in the middle of a heavily wooded campground. There were several other tents within sight. The air smelled fresh, like pine and wood smoke. It was late afternoon, and some of the other people in the campground had already started cooking dinner over their fires.

It was all very quaint. Sans wasn't sure why humans put so much effort into living like this, when they had things like air conditioner and refrigerators and plumbing back home.

"So this is Yosemite, huh?" Sans mused as they all left the car.

"It's lovely, is it not?" Toriel said, stretching and taking a huge breath as she surveyed the campground. "Ah, I will never get tired of how fresh the air is on the Surface. Especially here in the mountains."

"Sans, Queen Toriel says we can cook hotdogs over a CAMPFIRE later! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Sure, bro," Sans said, yawning. "I still think it's a shame people don't eat water sausages up here, but–whoa."

Sans had finally spotted the trees.

The Surface was chock full of trees. Big pines, tiny decorative cherries and ficuses, trees with leaves that changed color, trees with sap that you could actually _eat._ But Sans had never seen trees _this_ big. Some of them had to be at least a hundred feet tall.

"Whoa," he said again. "Are all the trees out here this big?"

"THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWAKE FOR THE RIDE, SANS!" Papyrus said, wheeling his arms. "The trees are SO BIG! There were trees even TALLER than this along the road! It's too bad Undyne couldn't come. She would LOVE these trees! As well as all the cooking and fire."

"Heh." Sans couldn't take his eyesockets off the trees towering above him. He couldn't even see the tops of some of them. "I don't think even Undyne could knock down trees this big."

"She would certainly try," Toriel said, laughing. "Papyrus, would you mind helping me to unload the car?"

"Mom, I found a good spot!" Frisk called. They were already sweeping away stones and pinecones with a large branch they had found.

Sans went over to help, since kicking away dirt and pinecones was something he could manage. He had to stop every minute or so just to look at the trees and their general surroundings again. He was starting to regret sleeping on the ride up here. He'd seen pictures of the views in Yosemite–massive cliffs, gigantic stone formations, plunging waterfalls, mountains and trees as far as the eye could see. Here in the middle of the woods, though, it was just the trees. Which was fine. Sans couldn't get over how freaking tall they all were.

Ah, well. Toriel had suggested driving out to a point down the road that overlooked the entire valley to watch the sunset.

They let him relax while Papyrus and Frisk started setting up the tent, which ended up being something of a fiasco. Toriel had to go help extricate Papyrus from tarp. Sans sat on a rock and watched, laughing and idly using his magic to unload the last few things from the car.

Dinner was a bit of a fiasco as well, as none of them knew how to build a campfire. Papyrus ended up just piling a bunch of sticks together, with Frisk trying to explain that they needed kindling and tinder for it to work, and Toriel eventually lit the mess with her fire magic. It didn't quite take. Sans took it upon himself to go ask the humans at the next campsite over, and they were more than happy to help. Over a year they'd been on the Surface now, and Sans was always impressed with the humans who were good about sharing the world with monsters. Not all of them were, but there were enough of the decent kind to make up for it.

Once they got a fire going, Frisk showed them how to skewer hotdogs on sticks. Sitting around the fire burning their hotdogs turned out to actually be kind of fun. The char added a unique flavor to an already delicious meal. Of course, Sans still drowned his in ketchup.

By then it was almost sunset, and Sans was about ready to sleep for real.

"Not quite," Toriel said. "We must still go out to the point."

"I love a good sunset, but I might end up sleeping through this one."

"Well, you shall simply have to do your best to stay awake. More than the sunset, there is a surprise out there for you," Toriel said with a mysterious smile.

"That is right, Sans!" Papyrus agreed, clapping Sans on the shoulder. "We have something REALLY NEAT to show you!"

Sans figured that meant the view, which he had to admit, he did want to see. He had been pleasantly surprised by this whole camping thing so far, and he could handle one more for the day.

"Alright, then," he said. "Just hope we don't get eaten by bears."

"I certainly hope not!" Toriel said cheerfully. "That would be simply…unbearable! Hahahahahaha!"

He grinned. Man, he loved her laugh.

They piled back into the car and Toriel drove them down a winding road through the trees. It took about twenty minutes, and a few of the tighter bends took them close to the edge of the cliff. Sans caught brief glimpses of the view of the valley before the car turned again and it was swallowed by trees.

"That huge rock formation, that's, uh, what do they call it…?"

"Half Dome!" Frisk said.

"It REALLY does not look ANYTHING like a 'half dome.'"

"It looks more like a bird with a tiny little beak," Frisk said, laughing.

"It kinda looks like Alphys," Sans said when the rock formation flashed by again. Frisk laughed harder.

"I suppose it DOES have a certain lizard-y quality!"

Eventually they reached the end of the road and pulled into a parking lot. After that, it was a short walk to the point. Of course, any length of a walk counted as a long walk as far as Sans was concerned, and at this altitude the air was a bit thinner. Papyrus ended up hoisting Sans up onto his back halfway there. For once, Papyrus didn't even comment.

"Look, Sans!" his brother said when they arrived. "It's the WHOLE WORLD!"

There was a small amphitheater, and then beyond that, nothing but open air. The ground fell away and dropped several hundred feet to the valley floor. Miles away, directly across the valley, was Half Dome. The horizon rippled with mountains and rock formations. A few miles to the right of Half Dome was a huge waterfall. Everything was cast in the golden-orange light of the sunset.

In all directions there was sky and trees and _world._

"Wow…"

"WOWIE INDEED!" Papyrus set Sans down so Sans could get the full 360* effect. "This is the best view I've seen YET!"

It was incredible. Even the view from Mt. Ebbott hadn't been this dramatic.

"Just wait until the stars come out!" Frisk said, coming to stand beside them. "Everyone says the sky here is amazing."

Sans blinked at Frisk.

"Wait…stars?"

He had seen stars before, of course. It was one of the first things Frisk had showed him, the first night after the barrier had come down. They had been heading down the mountain after nightfall, and at one point Frisk had tugged Sans's sleeve and simply pointed upward.

He'd tried to catch the stars every night after that.

"That's the surprise," Toriel said with a warm smile. "I read in one of my books that the skies here are quite incredible. So I simply knew I would have to make sure you got to see them."

"We knew how much you love all that space stuff, brother!"

"Aw, jeez, guys," Sans said, ducking a little to try and hide in his hoodie. "We can see the stars just fine from our backyard. Though…the view is certainly better."

"You have to do it right, though," Frisk said. "The skies won't be good for a few hours, and you can't look up until we tell you to, okay?"

"Yikes. Rules too?" He grinned at Frisk and reached out to ruffle their hair. "Don't worry. I've got a big Alphys-rock to admire till then."

"In the meantime, Frisk and I will go find a bear to befriend!" Papyrus said, grabbing Frisk's hand and tugging them away.

"Yeah! Bear friends!" Frisk whooped.

 _"Please_ do not actually approach any bears," Toriel called after them in a long-suffering voice. She sighed and sat down on one of the stone seats in the amphitheater. Sans sat beside her, unable to look away from the view. There was a shadow across the middle of Half Dome that was slowly rising as the sun set further in the West.

"It really is lovely here, isn't it?"

"It is," Sans said. He felt something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Contentment.

"Thanks for dragging me out here, Tori," he said after awhile.

"Truthfully, it was Papyrus's idea," Toriel admitted, smiling brightly at Sans. "Though I suppose all three of us did an equal share of the dragging."

They fell into amicable silence as they watched the golden light slowly fade from Half Dome. Sans supposed that this meant they had technically missed the sunset, but that was fine. He liked sunrises better anyway, and the view was worth it.

As night started to fall, however, he found himself dozing off. The view was gone and he wasn't allowed to look at the sky yet, so he figured he might as well catch some Zs while he waited. Toriel even let him sleep with his head on her shoulder.

Progress, maybe, though toward what he wasn't too sure.

"Sans!" Frisk was whispering next to Sans's face. "Psst, Sans, wake up!"

Sans snuffled and came awake, lifting his head off of Toriel's shoulder and blinking his eyesockets.

"Zuh?" For a second he wasn't sure where he was, then it came back to him. Frisk was crouched nearby, grinning at him.

"Hi, Sans," they said. "You can look up now."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Right, the stars.

Sans looked up.

And froze.

The sky was alight, like someone had thrown glittering dust across a black canvas. There was no moon, but the stars lit up the whole sky, outlining the horizon and the shape of Half Dome and the mountains. The stars. Thousands, millions, more than anyone could count. The Milky Way soared in an arch above them, like the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral, sparkling like a river. Stars that shone white and orange and blue and red.

"Oh…"

There were so many stars it was hard to pick out the constellations, but Sans found them. He knew them by name. Pegasus over the shadow of Half Dome. Lyra straight above their heads. Ursa Major to the northeast. Sagittarius to the west. Cassiopeia, Auriga, Virgo, Scorpio, Perseus, Cygnus.

"I…" Sans covered his mouth briefly with a hand. Every time he thought he'd seen every star there was, he would turn his head slightly and see more.

"Brother? Are you alright?"

"Y…Yeah. Just…I knew there were millions of stars in the sky but I didn't…know. You know?"

"Ah! I know how you feel, brother! I didn't know either! It's going to be difficult to meet so many!" Papyrus leaned back so he could see the stars better.

"It's so beautiful," Frisk said with quiet reverence.

"Like a dream," Toriel agreed.

"Nah," Sans said, smiling, breathing. "Way better than a dream."


	3. Family

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

* * *

Day 4: Family  


Toriel had been planning a trip to the beach for several weeks now.

It had taken a lot of coordinating, as everyone had conflicting schedules. Sans had managed to talk her into letting Asgore come as well, which had just added another layer of complication to things.

But that was why Toriel had been queen for so long–she could coordinate and plan and organize people until even the most impossible tasks came together. A trip to the beach hardly measured up to running a whole nation.

Finally, the day had arrived. It was kind of amazing to see everyone in one place, even more so that they all managed to fit in Asgore's van. Sans tended to sleep on car rides, but for this one there was no sense in even trying. Not with Asgore and Mettaton singing along to the car radio in the front seats, Toriel constantly running down checklists, Undyne challenging everyone to a game of Punch Buggy, Alphys playing her 3DS and providing commentary, Frisk bouncing in their seat and Papyrus pointing out every single landmark they passed to make sure Sans saw everything.

It was tiring, but the good kind of tiring. It was that sort of exasperated fondness that came with family. Sans supposed that's what they were these days.

The beach, of course, was incredible. Yellow sand dotted with humans and the occasional monster or seagull, the air smelling of salt and seaweed, and the ocean itself. By now all of them had seen the ocean before, but it blew them all away every time, especially Undyne. One of the few times Sans ever heard Undyne go quiet was when she spotted that endless, churning blue.

"LAST ONE INTO THE WATER BUYS THE NICE CREAM!" she roared and took off, cackling.

"Ah, wait!" Alphys cried, trotting after her and stuffing her 3DS into a pocket. Frisk bounded after them, laughing.

"I hope Alphys is prepared to air blast the sand out of my servos," Mettaton said, making his way toward the water with considerably more grace than the others.

Sans chuckled.

"Like fish to water, huh?"

Toriel snorted.

"SAAAANS!" Papyrus groaned, but not for the pun. "I wish skeletons could swim!"

"No reason you can't go wading, bro."

"It's not the SAME! Well…I imagine it's not the same…but oh well! NYEH HEH HEH!"

And there he went. Sans smiled to himself.

Asgore and Toriel unloaded the car and set up an umbrella, chairs and beach blankets in a free spot. Sans settled into a beach lounger, content to watch the others have fun. The ocean was beautiful, the sun was warm, the breeze was lovely. It was easy to relax out here.

Toriel sat nearby for awhile, reading a book in the shade of the umbrella. Eventually she went to supervise Frisk, who had gotten it into their head that racing Undyne would be a good idea. Sans stayed in his chair, watching his friends, a soft smile on his face.

They were all so happy.

After awhile, Papyrus came up and flopped into a chair beside Sans, draping his long arms over the back.

"All this sunshine!" he said cheerfully. "I bet my suntan is coming along nicely! The Great Papyrus will soon be SUAVE as well as cool!"

"It'd sure match your sunny disposition."

"NYEH!" Papyrus made a face, but seemed content to let the pun slide. "Brother, Frisk, Undyne and I were planning on building a TRULY EPIC sandcastle! Do you want to join us?"

Papyrus's expression was hopeful. Sans grinned at him.

"Maybe in a bit, bro," he said and meant it. "I like watching everyone. It's nice."

"It is!" Papyrus agreed. "I am so glad the whole family managed to come!"

The whole family, huh?

Papyrus stood to head to his sandcastle duties.

"Hey…bro?"

Papyrus looked back at Sans with a questioning look.

"I'm…" Sans paused, almost nervous about what he was going to say. "I"m happy."

He had almost forgotten what that felt like. But this was happiness. The ocean, sunshine…everyone here and happy and free. Free for real.

Papyrus beamed and leaned down to hug Sans. Sans hugged him back.

"I know you are, brother," Papyrus said, almost quietly. "And that makes me more happy than anything."


	4. Music

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

* * *

Day 5: Music  


Sans hadn't really expected to become friends with Asgore.

Partially because it was weird to be friends with a king–Asgore's reputation as King Fluffybuns notwithstanding–and partially because Toriel's relationship with Asgore made things a bit…complicated. Toriel was very, very slowly working her way toward thinking of Asgore as a friend, and Sans was never a hundred percent sure that she approved of him and Asgore hanging out together. She always said it was fine, but she had a very mom-like ability to exude disapproval and disappointment.

Still, Sans liked Asgore. The big guy really appreciated the value of relaxation. Puttering around in a garden turned out to be generally less work than Sans had expected–or at least, Asgore was willing to do the more difficult trimming and pruning while Sans just watered flowers. With Asgore's encouragement, Sans had even started growing a tomato plant in the back yard that was coming along nicely.

Better still was Asgore's taste in music. Up on the Surface, the King had developed a passion for vinyl, and had set up a record player in his house, as well as a high quality stereo. Before, Sans had liked music well enough, mostly for the _idea_ of music, but like everything else it had been hard to care much. And then Asgore had introduced Sans to jazz.

Sans had been hooked every since.

Today, Asgore had invited Sans over to listen to his newest record. This had become something of a routine–whenever Asgore got his paws on a new record, Sans was the first one he called.

"So good to see you again, Sans," Asgore said cheerfully as he ushered Sans inside. Asgore's house was small and very cozy.

"You too," Sans said with a grin. "How you been?"

"Quite well. The rhododendrons have developed their first buds. And the morning glories have been quite prolific."

"That's good to hear. Ketchup's got its first little green tomatoes." Sans had named his tomato plant the only name that made sense. "I'm thinking I might plant one of those cherry tomatoes. Paps really likes the idea of, like, fresh roasted cherry tomatoes in his spaghetti sauce."

"Ah, that _does_ sound delicious." Asgore had two cups of tea already waiting. Sans took his usual seat on Asgore's absurdly comfortable couch and Asgore set the mug on the table beside him.

"He's gotten really good. I'll hafta bring you some one of these days." Sans stirred a few lumps of sugar into his tea. "Or you could always come by for dinner."

"Perhaps someday."

"Yeah. Someday." Toriel would get there, eventually. "So, what's this awesome new record?"

Asgore beamed. "I managed to find a somewhat rare recording of Ella Fitzgerald. Some of her work from the early Fifties."

"Nice. Well, let's hear it."

Asgore started the record player, fingers moving with surprising dexterity given their size. Sans let his eyesockets close as the first pops and crackles started issuing from the speakers. He heard Asgore settle into his easy chair.

And there came the music. The soft piano, the low rumble of the bass, and Ella's clear voice. Sans had heard plenty of her work before now, but these songs were new to him.

"Man," he said, folding his arms across his middle as he listened. "Lady can do no wrong."

"Indeed," Asgore said, quiet admiration in his voice. "A truly amazing human. Ah, and listen to that sound quality."

"Hey, Asgore?" Sans opened one eyesocket. "I don't thank you enough for letting me come over and hang out like this. So…thanks."

Asgore gave him a bright smile. "Of course, Sans. It is always a pleasure to have you over. In any case, music like this should be shared."

Sans grinned and closed his eyes again, letting the music wash over him.


	5. The Machine is Fixed

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

Note: This is kind of an AU of the author's series "The Scientist" but can be read without context. I would reccomend going to read it yourself anyway though, because it's like the best Undertale fic ever.

* * *

Day 6: The Machine is Fixed  


Sans wasn't sure what had possessed him to return to the machine.

It wasn't like there was any more hope of it working this time than the last…dozen? Hundreds? Of times that he, and sometimes Alphys, had tried to fix the damn thing. Years ago, he had given up on trying to fix it, accepting the inevitable truth that it _couldn't_ be fixed. It had sat collecting dust in the basement ever since. Sometimes Sans would pull off the tarp just to stare at it, usually when he was having a particularly bad day, but aside from that he left it alone.

He hadn't even brought the machine to the Surface when everyone had moved. He had left it behind, content to leave that entire part of his life behind for good. Now, two years after monsterkind had been freed, Sans found himself standing in front of the machine again, ready to try again.

"I picked up s-some interesting readings," Alphys had told him about a month ago. "I think maybe…something has changed?"

"I thought we agreed to stop." Sans was bad enough with hope and optimism as it was, and false hope was worse than everything.

"I know," Alphys had admitted. "I just thought I should let you know."

Sans had been silent for a little while, then he had asked a stupid question:

"What kinds of readings?"

And they had gone to work. Alphys was more confident this time around than Sans was, which was really saying something. They had redesigned the machine so many times over the years that Sans couldn't even remember what it had originally looked like. Alphys had come up with an all knew design this time around, while Sans had, against his better judgment, thought of some new plans for a power source and navigational matrix. If this did work, the machine would be so much more than a time machine–more than that, it would no longer be limited by Reset power alone.

Sans had no real hope. This was just routine by now. Just for old time's sake. He and Alphys hadn't had much chance to work together on the Surface, as they moved in different fields. It was nice to see her engineering skills up close again; nice also to see how confident she was when she was fixing or building something. All of the nervous awkwardness fell away when she was working.

"I think it's about ready," Alphys said as she typed in a few last lines of code into a computer. She'd taken it upon herself to install all kinds of new equipment in Sans's dusty basement lab.

"Moment of truth, huh?" Sans let his hand hover over the start button.

This wasn't going to work. But, still. That knowledge didn't depress him in the way it used to. Things had been good lately. He had moved on-moved _forward._

"Whenever you're ready, Sans," Alphys said from her computer. "No rush."

"Yeah." His hand curled slightly. "I'm, heh. Working up to it."

He took a breath. Then he pushed the button.

The lights in the lab flickered once. The machine gave a shudder, like some beast of metal and plastic and energy waking up from a deep slumber. It started to hum. A glow appeared from within and stayed there, casting the basement in pale light.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

"Oh my god," Alphys said at length. "Oh my god. Oh my god, we did it! It's working! Sans, Sans, it worked!"

He heard her leap over her desk so she could hug-tackle him from behind. Sans couldn't take his wide eyesockets off the glowing machine.

 _It was working._

"We did it, we did it, I can't b-believe we did it! After all this time! Sans, come on, s-say something! Ahh, I can't believe it! I'd, I'd really kind of l-lost all hope, it's been so long, and I didn't want to get your hopes up but I was actually really almost feeling pretty confident, I mean, they've done all this new work with particle physics, ever since they nailed the Higgs-Boson, and I thought, what if I just replicate-?"

"Al?"

Alphys pulled away, though she kept one arm slung over Sans's shoulders.

"Hey, you okay? I know it's overwhelming, but-S-Sans? You're shaking…"

"This. I mean." Sans couldn't quite catch his breath. He raised a hand to his chest. "This is a dream, right? I'm just–gonna wake up and–heh. Heh heh. Th-This is it, right? This is when the Reset comes. I-I wake up back in Snowdin. Any second now. Right? It's. Just a dream. They're just messing with me. We had two years this time. Th-That's a pretty good run, right? Yeah, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's f-"

Alphys flicked the side of his skull with a blunt claw, none too gently.

"Ow." He rubbed the side of his head and frowned at her. "What was that for?"

"Well, you're…supposed to pinch people to prove they're awake, but, you know, you don't have any skin." Alphys gave an apologetic smile. "And you were freaking out. You're not supposed to use the f-word anymore, you know."

"But…" He looked at the machine again. Still there, still humming, still working against all odds.

"This…can't be real."

Alphys stepped around him so she could lay her hands on either side of his face, making him look at her.

"Sans, it's real. I _promise_ it's real." She looked him right in the eye, with the practiced skill that came from years of having to talk him down. "We've made it to the Surface. We've been there for two years now. Everyone's happy. Even you, Sans, you've been h-happier lately more than I think I've ever seen you. And Frisk? They promised, Sans. No more Resets. And now we're in your old lab, and we did it. We got the machine working. It's _real."_

She let go of his face and took his hands instead.

"Okay?"

Sans looked at her face, looked at her hands in his. The machine was still there in his peripheral vision. Still there. Still working.

"Okay."

"Good," she said, and hugged him for real. Sans hugged her back, as tight as he could.

"So I can fix it now."

"Yup."

"I can save him."

"Yup."

"How?"

She pulled away, back in engineer mode.

"The machine should synchronize with your own teleportation magic. You know where he is, don't you? I always had a feeling that you knew how to get to him, what's left of him. It'll be tough, but you just have to take the machine to him."

"I can't teleport there, though. It's…" Sans waved his hand vaguely. "In between. I've never been able to land there."

"That's what the Reset power is for," Alphys said, grinning. "It's not quite the same, but it works on a general principal of–heh, never mind. You're a physicist. It would take too long to explain."

He found himself grinning, despite himself. "Physicists are supposed to be the ones with the superiority complex, you know."

"Yeah, but you can't get a physicist to program a Blu-Ray player," she said, folding her arms. "And you can't get a physicist to build a machine that slips through the l-literal code of our universe."

He chuckled. "Fair enough." He paused, looking over at the machine and remembering something. "Will it hurt? The first time I used it, it hurt." Which was fine by him, but it paid to be prepared.

"Nope! I fixed that. No transfer of energy this time. No offense, but the original design of this thing was s-super crude. You guys had no sense of delicacy. The machine was basically designed to just kind of brute force its way through time and space, and the offset was that it transferred that energy to the occupant. Plus, the…" she paused, eyes flicking away. "The conditions this time are different."

"Heh. Yeah." The conditions couldn't be more different, in fact. "So when I get there…"

"Well." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "That, I guess, is where the physicist is needed. How do you take something theoretical and make it real?"

"You…" He smiled. "You prove it."

She patted his shoulder.

"So go prove it."

* * *

She'd been right. It didn't hurt at all. It was smooth. Seamless. Sans opened his eyesockets and there, out the window of the machine, was a gray hallway.

He had to be expecting Sans at this point. Sans…was nervous. Excited, hopeful for once, but still nervous. He hadn't seen Gaster in person in…

Well, he had no real way of knowing.

He laid a hand on the hatch wheel and gave it a turn. There was a hiss as the hatch unsealed and swung open.

 _Prove it._

He stepped out of the machine, onto the featureless gray floor of the hallway. Sans could see a small room at the end.

If he'd had a heart, it would be pounding.

He walked slowly down the hallway. The room ahead appeared empty but he could sense Gaster, in the way he always could in the rare dreams where Gaster chose to speak to him. They'd gotten more and more infrequent over the years. Gaster, it seemed, had been just as content to be left behind as Sans was content to leave him behind.

Sans stepped into the room. Like magic, Gaster appeared. Slowly, like a bad image on a television.

"THIS IS UNEXPECTED."

Trust Gaster to get right to the point. Sans gave an almost shy grin.

"Yeah? Didn't think there was anything you didn't expect anymore, Doc."

"VERY LITTLE SURPRISES ME."

Gaster didn't really have eyes anymore, but Sans could still feel Gaster staring at him.

"It's…good to see you, Doc."

"I AM NOT SURE THAT IS THE CORRECT SENTIMENT, SANS," Gaster said, his odd voice quiet. "AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE. EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE TO YOU. STILL YOU PERSIST."

"Yeah." Sans shrugged. "Not sure it's a good quality or not. But, you know. I used to be worse. Used to be a lot more stubborn. It got hard after…everything. But…I'm good at being an immovable object. Heh. Just ask my brother."

"SANS." Gaster's half-melted form seemed to shrink, lowering into itself. "THIS WILL NOT WORK."

"That's what I said just a few minutes ago." Sans closed his eyesockets, smiling. "It's a good thing I have friends who don't let me give up."

"SANS. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER IF…YOU HAD SIMPLY FORGOTTEN ME."

"Probably."

"THEN WHY?"

"Because. This place?" Sans looked around Gaster's tiny gray room. "Heh. It's worse than my room used to be. And that's saying something. You've been here long enough. And now…"

He gestured over his shoulder at the machine, waiting for them.

"It's working. It's real. For once, I get to…I get to Save someone."

"THIS WILL NOT WORK."

Sans turned to Gaster and smiled. For a moment, he was quiet, unmoving. Then he reached out a hand.

"Take my hand," he said. "Let me prove it."

Gaster seemed to stare at his hand.

For what seemed like years, maybe eons, neither of them moved or spoke.

Then, very slowly, Gaster took Sans's hand.

 _Thhhbbbbtttttt._

Gaster blinked. Sans started to laugh.

"The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick," he said through his laughter. "It's always funny. Can't believe it works in the Void."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LET A SERIOUS MOMENT LIE."

Sans couldn't quite tell, but he thought Gaster was smiling for real.

"You've forgotten too much about me, Doc. Come on. Ready to rejoin the world?"

"NO."

"No? We can wait."

"I HAVE BEEN HERE SO LONG. I DO NOT BELIEVE WAITING WILL MAKE ME READY FOR THIS."

"Yeah. I know. Pretty…overwhelming, huh?"

Sans led Gaster away down the hall. Gaster's hand tightened on Sans's the closer they got to the machine. They were silent as Sans helped him inside and closed the door behind them.

"Next stop: reality."

"I AM…AFRAID, SANS."

"I know." Sans squeezed his hand. "Me too, Doc. Keep expecting to wake up. I won't let go, okay?"

"PLEASE DON'T."

Sans threw a few switches, turned some dials, hit a few buttons. The machine's hum rose in pitch. Sans took a few breaths, steadying himself, listening to the machine's vibration, letting his magic synchronize.

Light filled the machine.

"Here we go."

Sans teleported and took Gaster and the machine with him. It wasn't easy. Teleporting halfway through time and space and landing in the middle had been hard enough. Teleporting out was even more difficult, taking every last drop of Sans's concentration. When he felt himself start to slip and lose sight of the destination, he felt Gaster squeeze his hand.

They landed. The light faded, the hum went quiet, the machine powered down. Sans didn't waste a second. He opened his eyesockets and gave the hatch wheel a spin.

Alphys was waiting in the basement lab, both hands over her mouth.

"Sans?" she breathed.

He grinned at her. She looked past him to the dark monster at his side and drew herself up.

"Dr. Gaster, it's…it's a pleasure to meet you again, sir."

Gaster's face was unreadable, the pits of his eyes wide.

Sans let go of his hand, very slowly, making sure Gaster was okay with the loss of contact. This was important. Gaster had to take the last step himself.

It was always the hardest step.

San turned back to face him once he was out of the machine and spread his arms a little, looking around at the real world.

Real.

"How's this for proof, Doc?"

Gaster didn't answer. He braced his hands on either side of the hatch door, as if to steady himself. He looked down at the floor.

"I HAVE NOT DREAMED IN A VERY LONG TIME," he said, shifting his hands to help convey the words. "AND YET I FIND MYSELF THINKING THIS IS A DREAM."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. But it's real. It's an all new feeling, isn't it? Takes awhile to get used to."

Sans reached out a hand toward Gaster one more time.

"One more step, Doc."

Very, very slowly, Dr. W.D. Gaster stepped out of the machine into the real world. A sound escaped him as his feet touched solid ground. Relief, disbelief.

He caught Sans's hand, then wobbled, almost falling. Sans pulled him forward into a tight hug. Gaster was solid.

"Welcome home, Gaster."


	6. Winding Down

.

 **#cheeruptheskeleton**

* * *

Day 7: Winding Down  


Every other night or so, after their homework was done and dinner was finished, they would curl up on the couch and introduce their monster family to the miracle of Disney. Sometimes it was just Toriel, but most of the time it was some combination of Toriel, Sans and Papyrus, with the occasional inclusion of the others. It got to be a kind of family tradition-hang out in the evening and watch kid movies.

It was a nice little tradition. Very relaxing, though people tended to get very upset when any of the cute animals died, especially Papyrus. On one memorable occasion, Toriel had gotten up in the middle of watching _Finding Nemo,_ and Sans had found her in the kitchen, crying softly to herself. Sans had gotten her a cup of tea and sat with her until she calmed down.

Usually, though, it was a calm and relaxing tradition. Tonight's feature was _Lion King,_ which Sans had seen before, so he could let his mind wander and just…exist. Which had been nice, lately. Before, letting his mind wander tended to be a bad idea.

Things had been good. There hadn't been a Reset in years now. Everyone was on the Surface, happy, living their lives. It seemed almost too good to be true. Sans just wished he could know for sure if this timeline was unique. Had there been other timelines that lasted this long before the inevitable Reset? For all Sans knew, there were timelines out there where they had gotten ten, twenty years on the Surface, decades and decades, before it all went back and he woke up again in Snowdin.

Usually thinking about it stressed him out, but these days he had gotten better at being objective. At enjoying the moments, the days. Nothing ever lasted forever. You had to enjoy it while it lasted.

By now it was late. Toriel had vanished into her office to grade papers and Papyrus had, by some miracle, dozed off on the far side of the couch. He'd had a very busy day, even by Papyrus's standards. It wasn't often that Sans found himself awake while Papyrus slept. Frisk was curled against Sans's side, blinking slowly and yawning.

It was a quiet moment in the movie, where Simba's father appeared to him in the sky. Frisk shifted a little.

"Sans, are you awake?"

"Yep. Kind of a role reversal, huh?" He nodded toward Papyrus. "Me making it through a whole movie and Paps snoozing. Maybe this means I get to be the cool brother for awhile."

Frisk chuckled softly. "You're already pretty cool."

"I bet I was 'cooler' back in Snowdin."

Frisk didn't answer. It wasn't like them to not react at all, even to his really bad jokes.

"Sans…can I tell you about a dream I had?"

Sans looked down at Frisk. Their expression was neutral, their sleepy gaze on the television.

"Sure, kid," he said. "Was it one of the…the stabby ones?"

"No. I don't get those as much anymore."

"That's good to hear."

"This one wasn't bad." Frisk paused. "I…can I tell you a secret? About the…you know."

Frisk didn't like to talk about Resets any more than Sans did, so this must have been important.

"Go ahead."

"I didn't want to say this cause…cause it felt kinda like…cheating. Like…like I wasn't taking responsibility."

Sans slung an arm around Frisk in a sort-of hug.

"It's okay, kid. You can tell me."

"I wasn't…always fully in control of the Resets."

"You've told me about the other one before."

They never used the name. Never. Not even when there was no chance of Toriel overhearing. They had agreed that while they could handle the others finding out about Resets and timelines, could even handle other others learning about the bad timelines, the one thing they could never do was let Toriel find out that her dead child had, on multiple occasions, helped to slaughter every last monster in the Underground.

Frisk shook their head. "It wasn't the other one, either. They…they only had as much control as I did. We, um. We could Save and Load and Reset, but…the True Resets, where everything started over again? That…that was something else. Some other force. The first time I saw the barrier come down and…and everything was happy? It didn't even occur to me to…go back. But it happened anyway. I just accepted it because I was glad I got to meet everyone again for the first time."

Frisk sighed. They weren't used to talking so much, especially not about such heavy things. Sans hugged them a little tighter.

"I gotta say…I wish you'd told me this sooner."

"I'm sorry," Frisk said in a small voice. "I wasn't sure you'd believe me."

That was fair. In earlier days, Sans would either have thought it was a lie, or simply wouldn't have cared.

"Anyway…" Frisk snuggled against Sans and yawned. "This dream I had. I…was in this dark place. And I heard a voice. It said something like, 'It's over. I'm finished. I saw everything there is to see. So I'm leaving it like this for everyone.' And then I woke up."

Sans was silent for awhile.

"So…?"

He didn't want to assume anything. It was a terrible idea to get his hopes up, but all the same…

"I mean…I can't be sure, right?" Frisk shrugged. "It might have just been a dream. It's…not like the Reset isn't still there. I can always feel it. But…I don't know. I feel like something's different. Something good."

They turned their face a little so they could give Sans a tentative smile.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you. I know you don't like…like, fake hope or anything. But. I don't know. I just…I think this is it, Sans. I think it's really forever this time."

Sans closed his eyesockets. It was stupid, probably nothing, probably just a kid's dream, but…

But…

He believed it.

For the first time since he could remember, Sans was hopeful.

He hugged Frisk as tight as he could and heard them giggle into his hoodie.

"Thank you, Frisk."

"I love you, Sans."

"Love you too, Frisk."


End file.
